Financial Questions Stall Plan To Start Deer Park Patrols

LAKE ZURICH — The Lake Zurich Village Board has delayed action on a proposed police service contract with neighboring Deer Park while village officials review the finances of the deal.

Lake Zurich board members decided this week to wait at least another week before voting on a proposed five-year deal to provide eight hours of daily patrol service in Deer Park.

Deer Park, which does not have its own police force, contracts with the Lake County Sheriff's Department for service, according to Lake Zurich Village Administrator John Dixon, who has been negotiating with Deer Park officials.

Dixon said Deer Park officials would like to begin contracting with Lake Zurich because the village's police station is nearby. Under the proposed deal, Lake County sheriff's police would continue to provide 16 hours of daily patrols.

Before any deal is approved, Lake Zurich trustees said they want to make sure that Deer Park would be paying its share for police services.

The contract would require two officers to be added to the 21-officer force. Trustee Mark Hutton, a certified public accountant, said he was concerned that a larger police force might require additional support staff, increasing costs.

But Lake Zurich Police Chief Fred Clauser said that the department is "designed to be flexible enough to absorb the impact" of two additional officers without increasing overall costs, but said he wanted to review the figures.

Lake Zurich Mayor Jim Kriske said, "If we enter a long-term contract or become a regional service center for other villages, then they should contribute to our facilities and our fixed costs."

The approximate cost to provide the patrol to Deer Park is $134,000 per year, according to a budget report.